Broker Roundup: Analysts Weigh In on General Electric Company (GE) and Facebook Inc (FB)

Top analysts are weighing in today on industrial giant General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) and social media giant Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB). Here’s a quick roundup of today’s brokerage notes on GE and FB.

General Electric Company

Oppenheimer analyst Christopher Glynn reiterated a Perform rating on shares of General Electric, after the company reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2015 results before markets opened Friday.

The analyst concluded, “Industrial segment OP came in slightly light, but not overtly, and includes a transitional stub quarter from Alstom, while the outlook was confirmed. O&G OM declined only 70 bps on a 16% revenue decline (down only 6% core), on effective cost actions. Overall, the quarter was generally consistent with trends, with some macro softness at the margin.”

According to TipRanks.com, which measures analysts’ and bloggers’ success rate based on how their calls perform, analyst Christopher Glynn has a yearly average return of 12.6% and a 67% success rate. Glynn has a 16.3% average return when recommending GE, and is ranked #5 out of 3586 analysts.

Out of the 14 analysts polled by TipRanks, 10 rate General Electric stock a Buy, while 4 rate the stock a Hold. With a return potential of 15.6%, the stock’s consensus target price stands at $32.69.

Facebook Inc

Cantor analyst Youssef Squali reiterated a Buy rating on shares of Facebook, with a price target of $130, as the company will be reporting fourth-quarter results next Wednesday, January 27 post market close.

Squali commented, “We expect FB to report strong results on Wed., 1/27, showing that user growth and engagement on the platform continued unabated. Revenue growth and EBITDA margin at 41% Y/Y and 65%, should be among the highest within the Internet group, by our estimate. Intra-quarter checks indicate strong demand for social inventory and a growing popularity of Instagram among marketers. While management does not formally guide, we think it is likely to comment on investment and Opex levels, the growth of which is likely to again exceed that of revenue in 2016.”

“FB remains a top pick for us, given its position as the largest/most engaging mass-reach Internet platform for advertisers, unmatched targeting potential, and very potent monetization formats. While Mobile has been the main driver of growth to-date, in our view, video should start moving the needle more meaningfully in 2016, while Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Oculus provide upside potential longer-term,” the analyst concluded.

According to TipRanks.com, analyst Youssef Squali has a yearly average return of 13.7% and a 56.2% success rate. Squali has a 45.9% average return when recommending FB, and is ranked #27 out of 3586 analysts.

The overwhelmingly majority of analysts say Facebook is a “buy.” The average forecast is for the stock to hit $119 in the coming months, according to TipRanks.